James Joseph Francis Xavier King
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Joseph Francis Xavier King | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 August 1855 |
| Died | 5 February 1933 |
| Occupation | |
| Years active | 1872–1930 |
| Spouse | Jessie Parker Barr |
James Joseph Francis Xavier King F.E.S. (1855–1933) was a Scottish entomologist, artist, librarian and lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art[1][2] and Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College.[3][4] In his entomological publications King is sometimes referred to by his initials as J.J.F.X. King, and his pupils at The Glasgow School of Art gave him the nickname 'Alphabetical King.'[1]
King was born on 28 August 1855 in Burnside Street, Glasgow, Scotland.[5][6] King's father George and his mother Catherine (née Kennedy[7]) were both originally from Dublin, Ireland.[5][8]
In 1871, fifteen-year old king was recorded on the Scotland Census as an Architectural Apprentice.[9]
King became a member of the Glasgow Natural History Society in 1872 at the age of sixteen, and served as the Society's Librarian from 1883.[4]
By 1880 King was teaching general classes at the Glasgow School of Art.[1] One of King's pupils in 1884 for elementary classes in draftsmanship and ornamentation was the young Charles Rennie Mackintosh.[2] King was working as Librarian at the School when the new School building by Mackintosh was nearing completion in 1909. In the Autumn of 1909 King filed a complaint that the new library's large oriel windows made it very difficult to heat the room and comfortably work during cold weather, so radiators were added for the comfort of the students.[10]
King exhibited two landscapes at the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts in 1885 and is recorded as being an active artist between 1885 and 1891.[11]
In 1892 King married Jessie Parker Barr (1864–1933).[12][13]
In 1896 King's death was erroneously reported in the Dundee Evening Telegraph as having occurred in a hotel at Fochabers on 14 September;[14] King himself wrote to the newspaper to correct them - he had been mistaken for his friend the botanist Thomas King, who had actually died in Fochabers on that date.[3]
King died at Kelvinside, Glasgow, on 5 February 1933.[15]
During his lifetime King had assembled a large collection of British insects (c.500,000 specimens[4]), bird's eggs and natural history books. The bulk of his insect collection was gifted by King to the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University during his lifetime, and the remaining 10,000 specimens were bequeathed to the university upon his death, along with his oil portrait by David Forrester Wilson (1873–1950).[16][17][18] Another oil portrait sketch of King by John Lavery is in the collection of the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC).[19]